03/02/2026
Right, Iâm gonna be real for a minute here.
Most people with substance use disorders donât die from drugs or alcohol, they die from shame.
Shame stops people asking for help. Shame tells parents theyâll lose their kids. Shame tells professionals theyâre ânot that bad.â Shame tells neurodivergent people theyâre the problem.
đ NOT SO FUN FACT:
People (me included) delay seeking treatment for years because they donât want to be seen as weak, irresponsible, A Jeremy Kyle stereotype ⊠âan addictâ
And, by the time they are âbad enoughâ ⊠itâs often too late. So, if your service is:
âą cold
âą clinical
âą judgemental
âą obsessed with thresholds
Guess what - youâre not preventing harm, youâre part of the pipeline to crisis.
Recovery doesnât fail people, systems and people do and until we stop blaming individuals for surviving in the only way they knew how, weâll keep burying people who were asking for help in silence.
Your Monday Reminder: We donât do shame here. We do warmth. We do honesty. We do harm reduction. We want keep people alive.
